


For Better or Worse (But most likely Worse)

by Horststein



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Dark Side for the Win, Female Luke Skywalker, Fun, Gen, Imperial Luke Skywalker, No Vader Redemtion, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sith Luke Skywalker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:34:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25444750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Horststein/pseuds/Horststein
Summary: "What do you mean I can't just choke them out.""Milady, you cannot commit genocide on politicans because you don't like them.""But why!?""Milord, this is your daughter...""And I am so proud of her."
Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Comments: 8
Kudos: 94





	1. Fateful Meeting Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> New idea, new fiction
> 
> You know the drill, I do not own anything, yada yada...

**Fateful Meeting Part 1**

Vader didn’t know what to think anymore. It seems that lately, the Emperor has found even more amusement by sending him to the most backwater planets possible. Oh, how he will make that wrinkly old bastard pay for everything he did. It has been 5 years since his beloved wife died, with their unborn child.

Or at least, that is what Palpatine said. Vader knew by now that one should never trust a politician; he already knew that during his days as a Jedi and Palpatine was one of the best, or worst. Why he trusted him back then was anyone’s guess. Maybe it was because of the emotional turmoil he went through, the dreams of his wife dying in childbirth.

‘Dreams which I am sure the old bastard is responsible for’

You see, for most people, Vader was but the loyal attack dog of his majesty, his right-hand man, so to speak. And that was alright, he once was, after all, for the whole of 5 months at the beginning stages of the Empire. But he preserved that image; it meant that should the emperor die, he was one of the top candidates to take over. Despite being no politician, Vader had one thing every Moff, politician and even the Emperor himself lacked: the unyielding loyalty of the troops; be it the Imperial Navy or the Stormtrooper Corps.

The reason for that you ask? Vader was, by all means necessary, a fair and honest man. You couldn’t get away with crawling up his a** and if you purposely endangered or even get the men and women you are responsible for killed then, well let’s just say the Dark Lord of the Sith had his own idea of ‘natural’ selecting the weak ones.

But Vader could not yet kill his master; no, he needed two things for that.

First, the trust in the Emperor needed to be weakened; somethings the Tarkin-Doctrine the old man adopted would take care of. He had seen the plans for that atrocious battle station. The second thing was his body. The suit Palpatine has put him in was pathetic, to say at least, something he was certain was only there to ensure that he would not rebel against his master, and succeed. Now that problem…

…was also being taken care of. You see, during one of his visits on Kamino, Vader made sure to get his hands on some very specific intel; intel about reverse engineering stem cells out of his own DNA. These fish-faces have a whole division dedicated to just this purpose, and how these cells could be used to heal a person even more efficient than Bacta, because they were made specifically for this one person.

It’s kind of ironic, by putting him into this suit, Sidious wanted to weaken him, let him feel constant pain. But in the end, the opposite was the case. Due to the fact that the old man did not cauterize his wounds, most external damage, like his face and body, could be healed, the prosthetics could be exchanged for new ones, better ones much like his right arm.

Funny, isn’t it? All this things his Master did to him, all the stones laid in his path, all they did was strengthening him, fueling the Dark Side. As for Palps noticing: the man might be many things, but a good mechanic or engineer, he was not. The only thing he would most likely not be able to heal completely was the damage done to his lungs. A small price, if he was honest with himself, especially considering he already has substitute respiratory system in mind.

So here he was now, on board of his personal Star Destroyer, sitting in his meditation chamber while being injected with the stem cells we spoke about earlier. After nearly 2 years of treatment, one could clearly see the changes, not that many knew what he looked like before to begin with. Maybe another year or so and he could exchange his suit for a fake one. His new limbs and breathing devices should be ready by then too.

‘And then I can finally get rid of that meddling old fool.’

As he continued his thoughts about murdering Sidious, his eyes looked ahead in the mirror. Staring back at him were the famed Sith-yellow iris, a sign of his devotion to the Dark Side, of his fall from the Light, the sign of power that would grant him freedom from his _master_ , from _any_ master.

His face didn’t look as disfigured as it once did. Sure there were still many scars and burn marks littering it, but now he looked more like someone who had an accident involving high pressured vapor than someone who was burned by the unforgiven fires of Mustafar. Hell, there were even signs of his hair starting to show again.

‘It is truly magnificent what one can accomplish with the right mindset.’

With these thoughts, Vader shifted his concentration to the datapad in his hands, containing the parameters of his next task: Finding and exterminating a rebel cell on Rodia. Little did he know who he would meet there…

**-FBoW-**

Five-year-old Lyla Skywalker could not contain her excitement. Why do you ask? Well, she somehow was able to persuade her uncle Owen to take her with him on his next ‘business trip’, something about buying new parts for their vaporizers. Normally they would just buy their stuff in Mos Eisley, no matter how overpriced it sometimes is, the reason for that being the pirates in the region. While Tatooine was the home of Jabba the Hutt, his protection applied only to those who worked for him. If your ship was not on Jabba’s payroll, you were free game. But things changed. Over the last couple of months, the imperial presence in this sector has greatly increased, which meant the pirate activities have declined drastically. After all, the Empire often relied on civilian contractors for certain deliveries from nearby planets; and you don’t want to be the criminal responsible for shooting down a vessel that stood under the protection of the Empire, especially with the news of Lord Vader himself commanding the fleet.

This was also one of the reasons she wanted to go with her uncle on his trip to Rodia. The first being to finally get away from the dust ball she, regrettably, calls home. The second being that she was sure she could get her uncle to take her to the imperial garrison. Lucy really liked the Empire.

Well, not all of it. The Emperor, for example, gave her the creeps whenever she had the misfortune of hearing or seeing him on the Holonet. But she liked the Stormtroopers; they looked awesome in their white armor, fighting out there every day to protect the defenseless citizen of the galaxy. And then there was Lord Vader. Lucy didn’t know why, but whenever she looked at the articles about him she felt something akin to adoration. Her relatives didn’t know this, but hidden deep in her room was a data chip where she saved all the Holonet articles and pictures involving her hero.

I mean, how could he not be? The hero the galaxy needed so much. He didn’t hide behind his troops, didn’t hold some meaningless speeches full of Bantha poodoo like politicians usually did. He fought on the frontlines, like a knight in, and I quote, ‘sparkly black armor that looks kriffing bada**’.

Ah, the innocent mind of a little girl with a sailor’s mouth, how far we have come. 

**-FBoW-**

Lyla looked around, trying to take in as much as possible. Rodia was so different from Tatooine. Whereas her home was a complete deserted wasteland, this place here was so full of life, with lush green jungles and swamps covering the surface. Then there were the cities, protected by huge domes to keep out all the dangerous critters that populated the vast greens of this planet; truly a sight to behold. 

But as soon as the imperial garrison came into view, all thoughts about exploring this strange world vanished from her mind. While the huge structure made out of durasteel sure as hell looked imposing, it also, strangely enough, gave off a sense of safety. Walking along the outer barriers, Lyla could see the Troops training in front of the complex. It sure as hell looked quite busy. Alas, all that was forgotten when the young Skywalker was suddenly overcome with a sense of danger. Looking up at one of the buildings surrounding the garrison, she could see couple of hooded figures taking aim at the main building with what looked like rocket launchers.

“WATCH OUT!”

After that, all hell broke loose…

**-FBoW-**

Lieutenant Maximillian Veers didn’t have that much of a great day, or month, to say the least. First, they were unable to locate the rebel cell on Rodia, and now high command saw it fit to send Lord Vader of all people to clear up this mess. It couldn’t get any worse, could it?

He was interrupted in his moment of internal monologue when he heard what sounded like a little girl screaming. Turning in the direction of said sound, Veers saw, in fact, a scared looking girl, pointing at one of the roofs. Looking up, he blanched.

“GET DOWN” were the only words he could shout out before throwing himself to the ground, as the terrorist group launched their cowardly attack.

**-FBoW-**

Lyla felt completely numb as she was thrown on the ground by the explosion. This feeling of numbness, however, didn’t last long as agonizing pain suddenly tore through her nerves, originating from her right shoulder.

The screams around her became muffled as she watched the main antenna of the imperial complex falling down, ready to crush her, and most likely many innocent bystanders who too were taken by surprise at the sudden attack.

Lyla couldn’t move as she watched what must have been a couple of tons of durasteel coming towards her…

…before they came to an abrupt halt.

The last thing she registered was, strangely enough, the sound of mechanical breathing seemingly cutting through the noise around her.


	2. Fateful Meeting Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own anything yada yada...

**Fateful Meeting Part 2**

It all happened so fast. One moment Vader was about to meet with the rest of his troops at the imperial garrison, the next his senses were completely overwhelmed by a feeling of impending danger.

Then the shots were fired.

As the antenna of the was about to crush the civilians traveling the streets in front of the complex, the Force practically screamed at him, urging him that he had to stop it by all means necessary.

So he did. 

**-FBoW-**

The efficiency of the imperial military can be scary at times, at least when the troops aren’t led by some of the more moronic officers. The members of the 501st, now called Vader’s Fist, did not waste any time whatsoever. Before their leader even lowered the tons of durasteel safely to the ground, they had already engaged the enemy.

Swift and brutal…

While the threat was neutralized, the aftermath of the attack has yet to be dealt with. Vader surveyed the carnage in front of him. At least a dozen civilians dead, many more were wounded. The communication-center inside the imperial base was completely destroyed, as were parts of the yard in front of the garrison. At least fifty members of the imperial military died. But that was not what was at the forefront of Vader’s mind. No, currently his focus rested solely on the little girl who was put on a stretcher by some medic, ready to get her some serious medical help, if the piece of durasteel sticking out of her right shoulder was any indication.

But that wasn’t the only reason. No, it was her face, which, for some reason looked strangely familiar. Her clothes indicated that she wasn’t a local; in fact, they looked similar to what he wore during his youth. The color of her hair was also rather similar to his.

‘How interesting’

“She was to one who warned us about the attack, sir.”

Looking away from the girl as she was transported to the nearby hospital, Vader looked at the officer who just spoke to him. Taking the stare as an indication to elaborate further, Veers began to explain.

“I was outside, overviewing the troops when we heard her scream. She was pointing at the attackers only moments before they opened fire, sir. I think without her, a good chunk of our troops who were out in the front yard would have died or been severely wounded as a result of the explosion.”

While Vader didn’t show it, inwardly he was taken by surprise. That girl might be a Force-Sensitive if she could feel the attack coming. Or it was sheer luck. Lord Vader did not believe in luck.

“I want you to keep an eye on her Lieutenant. Inform me when she is awake and run the standard blood tests.”

**-FBoW-**

Vader stared at the screen in front of him in disbelieve. After returning on board of the Devastator to re-coordinate the troops a couple of hours ago, seeing that a good chunk of the leading staff on the ground was dead, Vader also used this opportunity to run some more in-depth test on the blood sample he got from Veers. The girl was definitely Force-Sensitive, hell her Medichlorian was on a higher level than that of Master Yoda; just below his own.

Having a strange feeling in his gut, Vader then ran some DNA tests, which led us to the current situation.

Looking at the screen in front of him, Vader tried to process what exactly was going on. Even after the fifth retry, the results still stayed the same.

_Blood Sample: Subject ‘Girl’_

_Parents: Padmé Amidala Naberrie (96,9%)_

_Anakin Skywalker (98,4%)_

_Found Data: None_

The room around him started to shake, the metal aching under the pressure of the Force. The hate, the anger inside of Vader could barely be contained, fueling the Dark Side even further.

His daughter was alive. Palpatine **LIED** to him!

His daughter was alive. Padmé did **NOT** die on Mustafar!

His daughter was alive. They **TOOK** her away from him!

His daughter was hurt. Somebody is going to **DIE**!

**-FBoW-**

Lyla didn’t know what to think. She felt hollow, lonely. She was alone in the galaxy, after all. Her aunt passed away last year due to disease and now she was been informed that her uncle, after given the imperial officer in her hospital room a description of what he looked like, was most likely one of the civilians who died during the attack.

Lyla wanted to cry.

Suddenly the door leading into her room opened, as the mechanical breathing she heard before losing consciousness penetrated the silence. She felt the darkness entering the room coiling around her little form. But it wasn’t scary at all. It felt more like a blanket, shielding her from the unforgiven light that was reality, giving off a sense of protection.

Looking up, her blue eyes met the red lenses belonging to the person that stood in the doorway. Lord Vader looked intimidating, scary to the normal person. But Lyla wasn’t normal. Were others only saw danger and impending doom, she saw the man who saved her life.

As if compelled by some invisible power, Lyla looked at the big, black-clad hand in front of her. Without hesitating, she took the offered appendage with her free left hand, effectively changing the course of history.

For better or worse has yet to be seen…

**-FBoW-**

An eight-year-old Lyla was bored out of her mind. She was currently listening to her instructors on Vados as they talked about the political situation during the installment of the Empire. Looking around the room, she saw the rest of her ‘peers’. Well, there wasn’t really that much to see. Most of them were some overambitious prats that got this far due to their families and not their skills. Hell, she was sure most of these idiots couldn’t stand her either, seeing that she was three years younger than the rest of them.

Yeah, she was that good, thank you very much.

While she was able to skip certain classes due to her skills, most of the frightened flok didn’t dare to bother her regarding this fact. Being enrolled because your daddy is some ‘big fish’ in the pond was one thing. Being enrolled because you were personally recommended by her dad, not that anyone knew Vader was her father, and NIA Vice Director Yularen, well, that sure as hell got her noticed by many, students and instructors alike.

It was still a little bit strange to think about Lord Vader as her dad, even though it has already been three years since the attack on Rodia took place. Lyla knew her father wasn’t a saint by a far stretch, she knew of the things he has done, how the last meeting between him and her mother went. But she also knew that a huge part of the blame fell on the Jedi, Kenobi, and the Emperor.

Picture her surprise when she found out that the same old man who lived not that far away, the same old man who was ‘looking out’ for her was also responsible for her father attacking her mother, for her father having to live in that damn suit, for her family being ripped apart. Too bad he was already gone when the troops arrived at his home on Tattooine.

She just couldn’t wait for them to get what they deserved.

As she left the classroom, she was met by Versio and Husk, the only two people she associated with. At least they weren’t morons, even thou they were a bit too fanatic for her tastes.

**-FBoW-**

Vader looked at himself in the mirror, the dreary lights of Mustafar illuminating his feature. No longer was he in need of this dreaded suit. His torso and head were fully healed, his four limbs were of the highest quality money, and death threats could buy. The only thing remaining was the typical triangular breathing apparatus that now only covert the lower half of his face and even that was high end instead of this atrocious piece of junk he had to use before. He continued to examine his face further.

The telltale yellow eyes starring back at him, now sporting first signs of wrinkles appearing at their corners, framed once again by shaggy, dirty blond locks.

Vader couldn’t help himself anymore. His laughter ringing through the castle. He was back, ready to destroy those who dared to take his family away from him. If not for himself, than for his darling little daughter, a daughter whom he could now look directly in the eyes without anything obscuring his vision.

All he had to do now was wait for the right moment to strike down his _Master_ once and for all, before shattering his shackles and finally, after all these years, gaining his freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right folks, I hope you liked it.  
> This is not a fanfiction that is to be taken to serious  
> To be tell the truth, these are maybe the only 'serious' chapters in this fiction, so if you search for some piece of work with a huge climax...
> 
> (SPOILERS!)  
> Palpatine is most likely going to die next chapter, so yeah.
> 
> See ya!


	3. Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be rather short, but I just wanted to get it out of the way before starting with the actual plot itself, meaning I will try my best to implement the Rebel-series (ending of Season 2 onward), but it may take a while because I watched it some time ago.   
> As usual, I hope you enjoy, I don not own anything, ... you now the drill by now.

**Freedom**

Vader didn’t know what to think at the moment. The same could be said about an eleven-year-old Lyla, looking at her father. She didn’t know if she should be annoyed or amused right now.

You see, Lyla couldn’t sleep properly for the last few days, week’s maybe. The reason for that was the fact that it was finally time to kill good old Palps and with the PROXY MkII droid finally finished the last piece of the puzzle was set.

The first stage of the plan saw Palpatine becoming aware that there was a very strong Force-Sensitive attending one of the imperial academies. After that, the Emperor could act in three different ways. Either kill her, try to make her one of his Inquisitors, or use her to replace Vader. Seeing that Lyla was still very young, impressionable, and had a medichlorian count that was off the charts, the third option was the most likely one.

Vader was right.

Telling his apprentice to bring her to him, the Dark Lord of the Sith complied. The next part of the plan saw Palpatine dismissing the other people in the throne room, so there were no witnesses. The reason for that being that a): he was sure that Vader wasn’t much of a threat to him, after all, he was still in his suit; and b): so he could say Vader died during a Rebel attack, effectively riling up the troops.

By being alone with Vader and Lyla in the throne room, he played directly into their hands.

Next came the part where the Emperor would do his monologue, telling his, now former apprentice, that he has outlived his usefulness and was about to die. In typical fashion, he started blasting Vader with his Sith-Lightning, hoping to kill him off.

This was his final mistake.

The suit Vader was wearing was sham. That also meant that he wasn’t required to focus most of his energy to stay alive like he had done while still wearing. So when the lightning was just about to hit him, Vader sprang into action, using the ancient art of Tutaminis to absorb huge parts of Palpatine’s lightning before hurling them back at him. The Emperor was completely caught off-guard by this development. Before he could completely collect himself again, Lyla’s father was already upon him. With a huge leap, lightsaber already ignited, Palps was just able to get out his own in time.

Now some of you might expect a huge battle, with Vader just barely coming out on top, the huge showdown to vanquish the evil master. That wasn’t the case at all.

The Emperor was able to block Vader’s initial assault, as well as the follow-up attack, but the third strike from the imposing black monolith connected, serving the arm holding the lightsaber. The fourth and fifth strike incapacitated Palpatine’s legs before the sixth one, a stab through the heart, killed the old man almost instantly, forever freezing the look of shock and fear on his face.

So here we are now. Vader, with his helmet discarded next to him, looking dispassionately down at the cooling corpse of the man that brought him so much pain these last couple of years. The last part of the plan saw PROXY MkII impersonating the dead Emperor until it was time for Vader to ‘officially’ kill him.

“Well, that went better than expected.”

Vader could only snort…

**-FBoW-**

_The Legacy of a Hero_

_Yesterday, our beloved Emperor once again congratulated the graduates of the imperial academies all over the galaxy. But, we also got information that hidden in the ranks of these bright young men and women is a very special girl._

_Young Lyla Skywalker, a graduate from the ‘Future Imperial Leaders Military Preparatory School’, passed her exams at the tender age of just 11 years, making her three years younger than most of her peers. For those of you who may think her name sounds familiar, we assure you that’s because she isn’t the first member of her family to impress his majesty._

_Miss Skywalker is none other than the daughter of Clone-Wars General Anakin Skywalker, formerly known as the ‘Hero with no Fear’. General Skywalker led our troops into battle against the Separatist-Threat all those years ago and was wildly regarded as one of the most accomplished individuals. He was also a close friend of then still Supreme Chancellor Palpatine._

_His Highness spoke to us about General Skywalker, calling him one of his closest friends and a man who only ever wanted the best for the citizens of the Republic._

_While Anakin Skywalker was part of the traitorous Jedi-Order, he was able to see what has happened to the once noble knight of old, preventing their assassination attempt on our beloved Emperor and later on even striking down the remaining leaders of the Confederation of Independent Systems on Mustafar. Sadly, he went missing shortly afterward and has since been declared MIA._

_The Emperor says that he still misses his good friend, but at the same time he is also ecstatic to know that General Skywalker’s daughter seems to follow in her father’s footsteps._

_We from HoloNet-News would also like to congratulate young Miss Skywalker on her achievement and are confident that she too, will do her best to serve the people of the Empire and his majesty to the best of her abilities._

**-FBoW-**

Darius Kar knew he was in trouble, seeing that he woke up in an imperial cell. It all went so well at first; they established their new base on some remote planet in the Thanium-Sector to keep an eye on the prison on Felucia. Only two weeks later they were found out. How, they did not know, not that it really mattered at the time. Everything was running smoothly, hell they didn’t even start their observations just yet, and then, the Empire showed up. Not some small patrol which might have stumbled upon them, but a contingent of three kriffing star-destroyers, including multiple escort frigates. Of course, they immediately started to evacuate, familiar with the situation, even though it never were that many ships before, but it was kind of a routine to all of them.

Then the moral took a deep downward spiral when **it** showed up, the Sovereign, an Imperial Class Star-Dreadnought Mk I.

(A/N: think of it as a First Order Star Destroyer regarding the bridge and overall design, but with the split-open front like the Harrower-Class Dreadnought, and a dual siege cannon mounted there instead of the two hangars)

Not only was this 2.4km long monstrosity equipped with a Dual Ion-Siege cannon which could disable smaller planetary shields as well as whole ships it also had a gravity well projector somewhere between said cannon and the bridge, meaning flight was neigh impossible. To put it simple, they were fucked, royally. Bear in mind though, it was not the ship itself the people feared, but who was on it.

As if called, the door to his cell opened as two Stormtroopers entered, and death itself followed…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and like usual, write your thoughts and opinions down in the comment section below  
> If you fancy you can also reach me via Discord if you want a more throughout discussion (Horststein #8996)
> 
> Also, I the reason why I killed of Palpatine so early is twofold:  
> First, I wanted this to be a bit more lighthearted (I hope atleast), and with him looming around that would hardly be possible  
> Second, he is, in my opinion one, if not the best character in the franchise and for him to fit in this story I would have to OOC him, something I would never be able to do.
> 
> Until next time, stay healthy  
> Horststein Out


End file.
